Trap had even given her dance lessons every night so they could dance after they were married. Trap seemed good at everything he did. He was graceful, fluid even, like a cat, and when he moved across the floor to the music, his rhythm was impeccable. In the privacy of their home, she loved it. She loved the feel of his body against hers, the masterful way he guided her steps, the shared laughter. She didn’t feel awkward at all. She actually felt happy. His woman. But not here. Not in front of them all.

Trap gently moved Nonny out of his way. “Baby, you should have called to me the moment you started getting nervous. There was no need for you to get so frightened.”

She moistened her lips. “This is important to you.” Her voice was low. A confession when she hadn’t even told him what a coward she was.

“You’re important to me. Talk to me. What’s wrong?” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side, under his shoulder, shielding her the way he did with his body.

“There’s too many people,” she admitted, her fingers finding the lapel of his elegant jacket. “I can’t walk out there in front of them with all of them staring at me.” A small shudder went through her body. “I know they’re your friends and you want them here. I want them here for you as well, but I can’t seem to move.”

She was close to tears. Too close. It would ruin the makeup Pepper had so carefully applied for the photographs. Nonny explained the importance of pictures and showed her several of the family albums. Pictures of her four grandsons decorated the walls. There were beautiful photographs of Gator and Flame as well as Wyatt and Pepper in the parlor and along the wall above the stairs. Cayenne wanted to line her walls with pictures of Trap and her, or just Trap. She wanted her home to feel the way Nonny’s house felt.

Trap bent his head to hers, his strong fingers under her chin, tilting her face toward his. “Baby, you don’t have to go out there alone. This is our ceremony. We get to make up the rules.”

“I’ve already ruined everything because you aren’t supposed to see me ahead of time.”

“Do you think I’ve ever, in my life, given a flying fuck about the rules? I haven’t. That’s the answer, babe, I’ve never cared about rules. You don’t want to walk out there alone, without me, we walk out together. The girls can go ahead of us. No one’s going to care. They’re just happy you got me all wrapped around your little finger so they can give me hell whenever they feel like it.”

She couldn’t help it. He made her want to laugh. It was such a Trap response. “You can’t swear in front of the girls. Nonny told me if you keep it up, she might have to wash out your mouth with soap. I like kissing you and you might not taste as good.”

Trap grinned at her, completely unrepentant. He kept her pinned to her side. “Let’s do this, Pepper. Nonny, you get them to start the music and we’ll get married. The sooner we’re married, the sooner I get to have you in my bed.”

Cayenne frowned at him. “I was just in your bed.”

“Yeah, baby, and once I had that taste of you, I needed more. It wasn’t enough.”

“Trap!” Nonny said sharply. “We have children in the room.”

“With Wyatt around, Nonny, I think those girls are going to grow up knowing what their men are going to be expecting.”

Nonny shook her head, raised an eyebrow at Pepper and pulled open the door to signal to Wyatt to put on the music. She went first, followed by Pepper and the triplets, who solemnly flung flower petals in all directions. Trap kept her clamped to his side, his large body protective, partially shielding her as they followed the little girls.

It was a very short walk. Rows of chairs had been set up in the room with a path between them so the wedding party could make their way to the minister. Cayenne found her heart beating so hard she feared Trap would hear it. He knew she was nervous because she was trembling uncontrollably. She didn’t look at anyone, just stared straight ahead, concentrating on Trap. The feel of his hard body moving so close to hers. His breathing. The strength in his arm as it wound around her waist. His massive chest where her hand lay.

Baby, thank you for doing this. I know it’s scary for you, but once it’s done, you’re legally my wife and I’m your husband. I’ve always been yours, but this makes it official to the rest of the world.

She felt his fingers flex on her waist. I want to make you happy. She did. More than anything else, she wanted Trap happy. She knew the demons he had. She had her own, but she never had a family to lose. Now that she saw Nonny, Wyatt and Pepper and their daughters, she understood what having a family meant. He’d had that and it had been ripped from him. She couldn’t undo the past, but she wanted to do everything in her power to give him something just as beautiful. Maybe, if she was lucky, even more so.

It was a very short ceremony. She repeated the vows in a low voice. Trap sounded firm. He never once took his arm from around her until he had to in order to put the diamond band on her finger, pushing it next to her diamond engagement ring. Pepper had gasped when she saw the ring, but had just smiled when Cayenne asked her why.

Trap’s expression, the look in his eyes, when the minister pronounced them man and wife, had tears burning close. She knew, in that moment, she’d done something huge to make him happy. His kiss was everything she’d come to expect. Hot. Hard. Commanding. Demanding and possessive. Catcalls and whistles erupted along with applause.

Trap didn’t leave her side after the ceremony either. He did most of the talking to the GhostWalkers as everyone celebrated with copious amounts of food. The music started and Trap whirled her onto the dance floor, holding her close to his body, enfolding her into his arms as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

“You are,” he whispered. “Have no doubt that I’ll always take care of you, Cayenne.”

“I plan on taking care of you,” she told him, meaning it.

She vowed silently to love him better than anyone else could possibly do. She moved in his arms to the rhythm of the music, drifting on a tidal wave of love. Of need. So close to him, it was impossible not to feel hunger for him. Pepper and Nonny had bought her an outfit for bed, one she was more than delighted to show him before going to bed, but she didn’t see why she would want to wear it in bed. Still, they told her he would love it, so she knew she’d wear it.